The Hedgehog Redux?

Reagan's Way (from our archives. May 2009)

"As the GOP stumbles around Washington trying to be the party of Herbert Hoover, it's sad to see so many Republicans drifting so far and so fast from the Reagan model that helped pave the way for the great, non-inflationary economic and jobs expansion of the past 25 years."--Jack Kemp

Steven Hayward is over the "Get over Reagan"-crowd:

I've had my own criticisms of superficial Reagan nostalgia... but there is something perversely self-destructive about the idea that we should shove aside or ignore the example of the single most popular GOP president of the last century.

...[W]e've been here before, and Reagan showed the way out. After the post-Watergate 1974 election disaster, some polls showed the number of voters who identified as Republicans below 20 percent (compared to 31 percent today), and there were calls to abandon the Republican Party and found a new Conservative Party.

...[H]e worked extremely hard, studying the issues in depth and preparing and practicing his speeches at great length. I'm frankly appalled at the low level of rhetorical skill displayed by most GOP politicians today. It is not just a matter of talent; talent helps, but Reagan showed that hard work is the key ingredient. Too many of our would-be party leaders today are simply lazy, and think they can coast through speeches and media appearances with little forethought.

It's been two decades since Ronald Reagan left the White House. His stature was such that it secured the presidency for George Bush, both father and son.

Like Reagan, Gov. Palin has integrity that can't be bought, only sold--but she hasn't yet done her homework like Reagan did. But then, who has?

Fighting American communists as a union leader, touring factories speaking for GE, two successful terms as governor, years spent studying the philosphical basis of conservatism and researching and writing his own topical radio shows; they called him "lazy" as president, but he was simply a man in full.

"He knows so little, yet accomplishes so much!" said one aide. But the truth was, he knew more than you.

I'm not sure Jeb Bush is as guilty as Mr. Hayward says, but others certainly are. Which Reagan principles would they have us toss overboard? A strong national defense? Limited government? Strong families? Faith and patriotism? Low taxes and real prosperity?

No, they want us to throw the entire concept of principle overboard in an effort to chase voters. And chasing is following--the very opposite of leadership.

Even people who didn't think like Reagan voted for him. Why? Because they responded to his principled leadership. Obama faked it long enough to get elected, but even he needed the Tiger Beat Media to pull it off.

He even ripped-off Reagan's "City on a Hill" the other day. Oddly enough, just as demons recognize the Master's voice, Obama recognizes Reagan's greatness...while some Republicans want to run away from it!

There will never be another Reagan. But twenty years later, the mantle is still there for the taking.

Who will step up and make "a statement, not an apology"?

That's Reagan's Way, and it is both timely and timeless. .....................

(From our Archives, May, 2010):

Hey, Einstein: What is "smart", anyway? 

HOW SHOULD I KNOW?

This guy was pretty smart for a longshoreman:

"Free men are aware of the imperfection inherent in human affairs, and they are willing to fight and die for that which is not perfect. They know that basic human problems can have no final solutions, that our freedom, justice, equality, etc. are far from absolute, and that the good life is compounded of half measures, compromises, lesser evils, and gropings toward the perfect. The rejection of approximations and the insistence on absolutes are the manifestation of a nihilism that loathes freedom, tolerance, and equity."--Eric Hoffer, 'The True Believer'

Being called a nihilist means nothing to me. heh.

Hadley Arkes explains how Reagan's mind, like Lincoln's before him, naturally sought out and went down paths trod by more classically-trained thinkers.

Mac Owens from 2001:

The key to Mr. Reagan’s success as president is to be found in a famous 1953 essay by the British philosopher, Sir Isaiah Berlin. In that essay, "The Hedgehog and the Fox," Sir Isaiah categorized writers, thinkers, and human beings in general according to the dictum of the Greek poet Archilochus: "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." Ronald Reagan was clearly a hedgehog.

The one big thing that Mr. Reagan knew was that the United States was a fundamentally decent regime that constituted the only hope for freedom and prosperity in the modern world. He knew that the "idea" of America was undermined at home by a shift away from individual effort and liberty to reliance on the government and that it was undermined abroad by ideology of communism. The focus of his presidency was to unfetter America. The position of the United States today is a tribute to his success.

The Creased-Pants Crowd of the day marveled at Reagan: "He knows so little and accomplishes so much!"

And now we have in our current "professorial" president, a "Reagan-in-Reverse": He knows so much and accomplishes so little.

(The source of that quote:)

"To many people, President Reagan was a mystery. How did he know what to say? Who was handing him notes and whispering in his ear? Who was writing his speeches? Even some of his close aides were puzzled. I remember his national security advisor, Bud McFarlane, just a few months before Bud resigned, shaking his head and saying in bewilderment, "He knows so little and accomplishes so much."--Sec. George P. Schulz, forward to "Reagan in His Own Hand"............

Remind you of anybody?

Again and Again

A RONALD REAGAN “I do not want to go back to the past; I want to go back to the past way of facing the future" UPDATE:

 "America will never forget your plight, and we will never cease to speak the truth.
Your struggle is our struggle; your dream is our dream. And one day you will be free."



Donald; It was my life's work to free the captive peoples of Central America and Eastern Europe.
If you wish to join me, cherish their freedom. Ask a Slav--you married one, after all.
And tell our friend Gen. Flynn that Erdogan is no friend of America.
Remember; Great nations have responsibilities to lead, and we should always be cautious of those who would lower our profile because they might just wind up lowering our flag.